I was visiting someone today and was not looking at the TV and heard a commercial looking for people abused by Scientology Narconon program. I got up and walked around to see the end of the commerical it was 1-800 to call this law firm. I did ask the person what channel the TV was on the person said MSNBC.
I would have taken a photo but I left my phone in my car.
Posted May 4, 2015, 12:29 AM UTC
There are quite a few law firms pursuing suits against Narconon. Google "narconon lawsuit" and do some comparison shopping for your litigation needs! :P
I knew someone who died of a drug overdose shortly after finishing the Narconon program at Arrowhead. She was married with 2 kids. I'm tempted to let her kids know about this. They're a little older now. In the window of time before she died, she told me about her experience there. She said you can easily get drugs there when you want! Also, it's co-ed and many of the patients were sleeping around with each other. I don't think these are great "features" of a drug rehabilitation center. It's so sad she didn't get the help she needed in time. :(
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It's was my understanding only one or possibly two of the firms have been able to file as a class action in Federal Court. Previously, the courts ruled against a class action because of the varity of issues which differed between the claimants. The Las Vegas firm Hamilton Law may have had the longest history of dealing with cases against Narconon, Tony Ortega mentioned this on his blog. (I have not double checked the accuracy of this statement.)
You can also approach other firms which handle class actions besides the law firms which are looking for claimants. Jurisdiction, I expect would be an issue on which firm would be best to handle ones case.
There is one class action that I'm aware of. Like you, my resource is Tony Ortega and sometimes checking in at http://reachingforthetippingpoint.net/ to verify.
Ryan Hamilton and Jeffry Ray are both doing high-volume individual civil suits for people, but not class action. Ryan Hamilton, in particular, has 27 currently outstanding and is filing more all the time. From what I understand, it's better to do individual ones since each of the cases differ slightly (although the fraud part is identical in each part - the inflated success numbers, lies about medical oversight, and promises that it's secular and has nothing to do with Scientology). Individual cases allow for better supporting facts for each different type of injury sustained, and allow the families to have higher judgements should they win, I think.
This should be a good year for these lawyers and their plaintiffs:
We spoke with David Miller, and he says that there has been a lull in new lawsuits recently as attorneys around the country were waiting to see what would happen with Hamilton’s request to consolidate Narconon lawsuits so that they would be heard out of a single courtroom. But the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation denied that request, and so now attorneys suing Narconon are ramping back up. Miller says this new lawsuit is just the first of several more that are coming.
And he points out that because some of the first lawsuits that Hamilton began filing more than a year ago have survived attempts by Narconon to have them dismissed, those lawsuits are now moving into discovery phase. Hamilton will have the opportunity to begin deposing Narconon and Scientology officials, which will be testimony that other teams suing the rehab system can use.
the courts ruled against a class action because of the varity of issues which differed between the claimants
doesn't this just make it a bunch of smaller cases that aren't amicus curae?
Previously, they were handling the cases individually while trying to receive approval from the Federal Courts to pursue a class action. They were presenting cases where each were party to the action hence the various issues in each case, which reduced their similarities.
A amicus curae petition is brought forth by a someone who is not a party to the action, due to the HIPAA law I doubt a amicus curae petition would be applicable.
I'm sure it would be best from the litigators view point to combine them into a class action. A class action allows them the ability to take on more claimants while reducing their overhead and it would grant them greater jurisdiction.
I hope the recent prospects for a class action hold and various firms can pursue Narconon for all of its illegal activities.
There are a few attorneys stepping up lawsuits against Narconon. Maybe it was Ryan Hamilton (http://www.narcononlawsuits.com/) or Jeffrey Ray (http://www.michiganrehabattorney.com/). All the sites that Jeffrey Ray's site lists are Narconons (Best Drug Rehabilitation etc.). It could have been either of those two, but if you see it again please let us know!